More than 460 Injured During Catalonia Independence Referendum

MORE than 460 people are being treated for injuries caused by Spanish police clashes as voters in Catalonia cast ballots for or against independence.

“As mayor of Barcelona I demand an immediate end to police charges against the defenceless population,” Ada Colau said Sunday.

Madrid said Sunday it wants to bring a halt to the independence referendum, calling it a “farce.” Spain’s central government says the vote is illegal, VOA reported.

Police reportedly have fired rubber bullets, and clashes have broken out with protesters across the northern state.

Meanwhile, Barcelona’s football game against Las Palmas has gone ahead behind closed doors, despite requests to the league to postpone.

Madrid’s representative in Catalonia, Enric Millo, said Catalonia’s president Carles Puigdemont and his team “are solely responsible for all that has happened today and for all that can happen if they do not put an end to this farce.”

Police seized the ballots of at least one polling station and Spain’s interior ministry said on Twitter more ballot boxes would be snatched as police continued their deployment in Catalonia.

Police in riot gear smashed the front door of a polling station with a hammer Sunday in Catalonia where Puigdemont was expected to cast his vote in the banned independence referendum.

Scuffles between the police and voters erupted outside the polling centre in Sant Julia de Ramis, near the Catalan city of Girona.

A regional government spokesman said voters could cast their ballots at any polling station, instead of their designated one, since Spanish authorities have sealed off some polling stations.

A Catalan spokesman says 73 percent of polling stations are open, but their computer system is suffering constant hacking attacks.

Catalonia’s government spokesman Jordi Turull called on Catalans to continue to carry out their right to vote “in a civic and peaceful manner.”